Film fastening reel



April 19, 1949. 'L. G. BATES 2,467,607

FILM FASTENING REEL Filed April 28, 1945 I r I r,

r I I 1 I INVENTOR.

LAWRENCE G'BATES ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 19, 1949 UNITED stars-s m OFFICE FILM FASTENINGREEL Lawrence G. Bates, Shaker Heig-hts,-.10hio, assign- .or of one-third to Francis L. .Silverblatt,,New York, N. Y., and one-third to Ernest "relsdn,

Reading, Pa.

Application April 28, 1945, Serial :No. 5903878 (Cl. f242-'74) .9 .Clainis.

This invention relates :to reels, and more parprovidea construction which is easily and quickly threaded for winding, and which affords complete visibility as to the amount of load on the reel, and which is light and durable. Other -objects'and advantages will appear from the following description.

'To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a reel in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a diametral section taken on a plane substantially indicated by line 11-11, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail taken at right angles to that of Fig. 2.

In general, the device comprises a hub 2 and guard means or flanges 3 at the ends of the hub, and within the hub a bushing 4 key-wayed as at 5 to seat on a driving spindle or idler spindle. The hub is provided with. a chordal slit 6 which extends in from one end and is of a dimension to receive the strip or film which is to be held thereby and be wound. For access to the slit, one or more cut-outs or openings or windows I are provided in the flange, or in effect there are openings between What would be the equivalent of spokes 8. Other openings 9, more or less symmetrical, may be provided, thereby lessening the overall weight. Desirably also, a similar slit 6' is provided in the hub, entering the other end, and openings or windows 1 adjacent allow easy and convenient threading of the strip or film from the other side of the reel.

It will be understood that in the use of the device, the ribbon-like strip or film R is brought into position between the guards or flanges 3, and its end is threaded out through the opening 1, Fig. 1, and is then pushed edgewise into the slit 5, to be engaged thereby, and on then turning the reel the film is wound up layer upon layer, as further indicated in Fig. 3. The film may be threaded from either side, into either slit, as desired.

With a reel of this character, where lateral 2 opening-s such as 9 have been depended upon for showing the depthto which the :filmis wound, tl'iere has heretofore been .the handicap that the depth of winding below such openings :onthe hub had to be guessed at. As -a further refinement of the present invention, the guards or flanges 3, and preferably also the entire structure, are formed :of transparent material. Thus, plastic such {as methyl, .meth-acrylataacetyl cellulose, or the like may be ,molded, integrally or by assembly .of hub and :flanges, suitable cementing there resulting .in .a .substantially integral structure. The slits 6, when the adeviceris thus made of plastic material, are formed in the initial molding or shaping stage. If the device is made of sheet metal, the slits may be cut as convenient. Outstanding advantages of the plastic construction are the complete visibility of the amount of film on the reel, and even in a poor light. Furthermore, whereas sheet metal constructions as knows heretofore have been prone to warp and make trouble in going out of shape, with the present plastic construction this difliculty may be obviated.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the detail described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A reel comprising a transparent hub with transparent end flanges, a flat-plane chordal slit extending into the hub at one end, said slit intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places, and an opening in the flange near the slit, whereby a film end may be threaded from within the reel and be locked in the slit.

2. A reel comprising a transparent hub having a chordal slit extending in from one end and intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places and having flat plane bounding walls, and means for the threading of a film into the slit including a transparent end flange on the hub and a window therein adjacent the slit and having communication with the hub.

3. A reel comprisig a hub, end flanges thereon, a chordal slit extending into the hub from one end and intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places, and means for the threading of a film into the slit including a window in the flange adjacent the slit, said window having communication also with the slit.

4. A reel comprising a hub with end flanges, a flat-plane chordal slit extending into the hub from an end to intersect the hub at two places in its periphery, and an opening in the flange to communicate with the slit at each said place.

5. A reel comprising a hub with guard means at its ends, and a. flat-plane slit extending into the hub from an end in a direction parallel to the axis and accessible at such end for threading an article to be wound, said slit intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places.

6. A reel comprising a hub with guard means at its ends, and a flat-plane slit extending into the hub from one end to intersect the periphery of the hub at two places and in a direction parallel to the axis and providing parallel closelyspaced walls, and an opening in the guard means near the slit.

7. A film reel comprising a hub having symmetrically opposite chordal slits, one extending in from each end and intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places, each slit having flat plane bounding walls, and means for the threading of a film into either slit including transparent end flanges on the hub and a pair of windows in each flange adjacent a slit and having communication therewith.

8. A film reel comprising a hub having symmetrically opposite chordal slits, one extending in from each end and intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places, and means for the threading of a film into either slit including end flanges on the hub and a pair of windows in each flange adjacent a slit and having communication therewith.

9. A film reel comprising a hub having a chordal slit extending in from an end in a direction parallel to the axis and intersecting the periphery of the hub at two places and having flat plane bounding walls, and means for the threading of a film into the slit including an end flange on the hub with a pair of windows therein adjacent the slit and both having communictaion therewith.

LAWRENCE G. BATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

